AROUND TOWN: Silver Key's quilt of services for seniors

A quilt donated to Silver Key Senior Services last year became the inspiration for the sixth annual Silver Linings fundraising breakfast, where it was displayed. At the 2012 program’s end, supporters received tiny quilting squares in fall colors to drop into baskets.
Fast forward to the...

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A quilt donated to Silver Key Senior Services last year became the inspiration for the sixth annual Silver Linings fundraising breakfast, where it was displayed. At the 2012 program’s end, supporters received tiny quilting squares in fall colors to drop into baskets.

3 photos
+ captionSilver Key President/CEO Patricia Ellis, left, and board member Steve Baron visit in front of a quilt made by volunteers after the 2012 Silver Linings Breakfast. Photo by Photo by Linda Navarro

Fast forward to the seventh annual benefit May 10 at Cheyenne Mountain Resort where those hundreds of squares had been joined to represent “quilting together the services that support aging.” The quilt was the backdrop for that day’s speakers.

Volunteering hundreds of hours, said Silver Key’s Kathy Allen, Susan Rector had done the piecing and Nancy Ott the machine quilting, with Susan completing the edging by hand.

An especially important part of the senior-services quilt is transportation, said this year’s speakers. Retired Red Cross head Leslie Cook, who prided herself on being independent, said it had never dawned on her that one day she would dial the phone and say, “Hello, Silver Key?” and ask for help since she could no longer drive. Rather than being relegated to sitting at home with an afghan over her lap, she wondered if someone could help her get to her regular Rotary Club meeting downtown, since she needed a van with a lift. Yes, indeed, they could.

The Silver Linings breakfast raised $65,000 for transportation needs like Cook’s but which will also go to Meals on Wheels, nutrition services and care management.